This invention relates generally to digital wireless mobile communications.
Code division multiple access (CDMA) for digital wireless mobile communications involves using correlation techniques to allow a receiver to decode one signal among many that are transmitted on the same carrier at the same time. Each user's signal includes a unique code that appears to be noise to all except the correct receiver. A channel in the code domain describes a combination of a carrier frequency and a code. CDMA generally starts out with a narrow band signal, which for full speech is 9600 bps. This signal is spread with the use of specialized codes to a bandwidth of 1.23 Mz. The ratio of the spread data rate to the initial data rate is called the processing gain.
When transmitted, a CDMA signal experiences a high level of interference, dominated by the coded signals of other CDMA users. This interference may take two forms. Interference may arise from other users in the same cell and interference may occur from adjacent cells. The total interference also includes background noise and other spurious signals. When the signal is received, the desired signal is recovered and the interference is rejected. A correlator uses processing gain to pull the desired signal out of the noise.
Currently available cellular technology makes use of what is called second generation or “2G” technology. Initially, cellular telephone technology was implemented with Advanced Mobile Phone Systems (AMPS) which were analog. In about 1995, digital systems, such as CDMA, were introduced.
A number of competing third generation or “3G” technologies are being debated within the industry at this time. The goal of the 3G technologies is to offer higher bit rate services. Such services may include multimedia, including video, Internet and electronic mail.
One standard for 3G technologies is the IMT-2000 standard which was propounded by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). IMT stands for International Mobile Telecommunications and IMT-2000 is the name for Future Public Land Mobile Telecommunications Systems (FPLMTS). FPLMTS is targeted at developing mobile telecommunications systems to be used “anywhere-anyplace” around the year 2000 operating at approximately 2000 MHz.
In 3G technology, a “bit” is the fundamental information unit of input data. A “symbol” is a grouping of data bits based on modulation. Thus, a symbol arises after encoding but prior to spreading. A “chip” is the minimum bit period of the final spread data. “Channels” include physical channels that are transmitted in the air, defined by a frequency and code. A transport channel is defined by how the data is sent and logical channels are defined by the type of data.
The so-called wideband or W-CDMA technology has been proposed as the 3G solution by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) as their proposal to the ITU for IMT-2000. ETSI's proposal is identified as UTRA (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System Terrestrial Radio Access). (The standard can be found at www.itu.int/imt/2-radio_dev/proposals/index.html.)
In digital wireless mobile communications, the pulses that make up each symbol may be spread in time. However, the pulses, in some cases, may smear into time intervals of succeeding symbols when rectangular pulses are passed through a band limited channel. This problem is called intersymbol interference (ISI). ISI may lead to an increased probability of a receiver making an error in detecting a symbol.
Thus, there is a continuing need for higher bit rate cellular telephones that are less prone to intersymbol interference.